"For this car, we offer an interest-free loan of 90,000 yuan for two years, but we need to charge you a handling fee of 4,000 yuan." In a Weipai 4S store in Beijing, zhou Peng (pseudonym), a salesman, pointed to a mocha and introduced. But when Autohome questioned the $4,000 fee, the salesman immediately became impatient.
"This money is a service fee, we provide you with financial interest-free services, for which we have paid the cost of the venue, the cost of personnel, the money is reasonable, why not collect?" This is the industry practice, and we are not the only one to collect, you go out and around, which 4S store does not charge this money? ”
Zhou Peng is true, after walking out of the Weipai store, Autohome visited all the traditional brand 4S stores in the surrounding area, whether it is a Chinese brand, a mainstream overseas brand, or a luxury brand, as long as it involves installment business, almost all of them will charge a "financial service fee". Some brands charge 3%-4% of the total loan; some brands are divided according to the model - compact cars charge 2,000 yuan, medium-sized cars charge 3,000 yuan; some brands do not care about more loans, model level, fixed 4,000 yuan; some brands are very flexible, saying that everything can be talked about...
For this money, everyone's name and description are also different. Some people call it a handling fee, which is said to be handed over to the bank, and the 4S store is just "collecting"; some people call him "hard money", calling it the unspoken rule of the market, bluntly saying that if there is no money, the new car sells a loss; some people call it "service fee", which is for the financial commissioner of the financial company stationed in the 4S store to issue a commission, "to provide you with services, the collection of money is very reasonable"...
However, as the so-called "unspoken rule of the industry", has it really spread to all car brands? Without this money, 4S shops really sell cars and really lose money? Are financial service fees reasonable and compliant?
The unspoken rule of "helplessness"?
"The money is given to the bank, and our store is just 'collecting'." A salesman of Guangqi Honda smiled and explained to Autohome: "Whether there is an interest-free loan or not, this money must be collected." Buy the type to pay 2,000 yuan, buy accord to pay 3,000 yuan, buy..." Hearing this, I couldn't help but interrupt the introduction of sales, and asked the basis for the formulation of the above standards, and the reply we got was - "Hey, the personality is not smaller than the Accord, so the handling fee is also less, but if you give me 3000 I have no problem." ”
『Type』
Unlike Guangqi Honda, a certain FAW-Volkswagen dealer treats the model equally and only charges 2,000 yuan. "You buy Sagitar we charge 2,000 yuan, buy Magoteng we only charge 2,000 yuan; you loan 100,000 yuan we collect 2,000 yuan, loan 200,000 we still only charge 2,000 yuan, open and transparent, the price is uniform."
In addition to FAW-Volkswagen, Volvo, Dongfeng Nissan, Dongfeng Honda, Beijing Hyundai, Haval, Weipai and other brand 4S stores also adhere to this "one-price" charging model, with prices ranging from 3,000-4,000 yuan. However, when it comes to "whether this money can be invoiced" or "why exactly should it be collected", the sales will be vague and change the topic, and few people will answer the question directly and positively.
The financial service fee of Audi and BMW brand 4S stores is not fixed, but the standard is very clear - the former collects 4% of the loan amount, and the latter is charged at a price of 3%. However, in contrast, Audi's charging model is more flexible, and sales said that "everything can be negotiated, it is good to negotiate, and it is not impossible to directly dispense with it." ”
In order to find out, Autohome contacted Qin Shan (pseudonym), who works in an overseas brand 4S store, and the other party said that charging financial service fees is also a helpless choice, and if you don't get this money, it will be difficult for 4S stores to make a profit in the new car sales link.
"We really don't make money selling cars, and whenever we throw similar remarks, the outside world always thinks that this is an exaggerated complaint, but this is really the truth." Qin Shan said, "In fact, there are many unknown costs similar to financial service fees, such as 'outbound fees' and 'license fees', but these are not as good as financial service fees." For a while, due to the too arduous sales task issued by the manufacturer, in order to let consumers stimulate sales, we temporarily cancelled the financial service fee, and as a result, more than 90 cars were sold in a month, but the sales profit added up to only 6,000 yuan, do you think it is incredible? This is also the data calculated by us when we charge the card fee and the outgoing fee. ”
According to him, traditional car dealers basically buy goods according to the price specified by the main engine factory, and in order to improve the cost performance of the product, they often sell at a reduced price. When the actual sales volume of the year is completed, and the proportion of sales of different models reaches the target set by the OEM, the OEM will carry out a rewarding "rebate" at the beginning of the following year.
"On the one hand, 'rebates' require cycles, and before the cycle ends, we have to bear a huge cost of capital. On the other hand, sometimes even if we count rebates, the money we earn from the sale of new cars still does not meet the purchase price of the vehicle. In order to avoid losses, you can only 'find compensation' from other aspects, there are many ways to 'find compensation', in the pre-sale stage is financial service fees, outbound fees, license fees, insurance, etc., in the after-sales stage is vehicle repair and maintenance. In this day and age, no one can make a profit without this money. ”
"Ping An Securities released the relevant report at the end of 2019, no latest data"
Qin Shan said that data support can also be found in the reports released by some research institutions. According to the "Panorama of the Auto Dealer Industry" released by Ping An Securities at the end of 2019, due to the intensification of competition, price reduction has become the main promotional means for dealers, which has led to a continuous decline in the gross profit of the new car business of domestic dealer groups. In 2018, the gross profit margin of bicycles including rebates in the top 100 dealer stores (about 6259 4S stores) was only 1.4%, and after adding premiums, outbound fees, insurance, financial service fees and other expenses, the gross profit margin of bicycles including derivatives could reach 4.1%.
From a macro point of view, the current living environment of car dealers is not optimistic. According to the data released by the Automobile Dealers Association, in 2021, the proportion of dealers who have completed the annual sales target will be 29.4%, and nearly 70% of the dealers will complete more than 80% of the annual task indicators. In the whole year, nearly 70.6% of the dealers' new car sales price did not reach the purchase price, and the gross profit margin of new cars was only 1.5%.
In this already cruel data, there are also many luxury brand dealers with high bicycle profits to balance, if you abandon this part of the dealership, the profit pressure of the rest of the brands will only be greater. Previously, there was also a German brand dealer staff and auto home complained, including financial service fees, the store sold an average of 100 yuan per car sold, want to make a profit, can only find a balance from the after-sales.
"The cost is always there, just a different way to accompany you." Qin Shan said half-jokingly: "Even if we don't charge this financial service fee, we will find other names to make up for this money, such as reducing the preferential margin, adding decorations/boutiques, and so on." First use the price reduction to attract consumers, and then through the financial service fee this money to make up for the money as much as possible, we do not lose much, users also feel that they have earned, this is the best application of user psychology. ”
Behind the maverick
Of course, not all brands charge financial service fees, at least not Mercedes-Benz at this stage.
"First of all, I will first read out to you our Mercedes-Benz Service Convention. Customer respect, treat each other with courtesy; integrity management, legal and decent... Never use fakes, shoddy. "In Beijing, a Mercedes-Benz 4S store, just after handing over the sales of business cards, pulled the customer to a wall with the Mercedes-Benz "Service Convention" hanging on it, and read it with a stern look.
At this time, the atmosphere was slightly awkward, and the author could not help but look down at the business card that had just been sold and handed over, and found that the name and contact information were only displayed in the last part of the double-layer business card, and the most eye-catching area was still printed with the "Service Convention", just like the content hanging on the wall and recited in the sales mouth.
In the follow-up vehicle introduction link, as long as the financial service fee is mentioned, the salesman will introduce the Service Convention in a positive way, and promises that Mercedes-Benz will never charge financial service fees for any reason in the sales link, but he also admits that this is indeed an unspoken rule, "Except for us, basically all collect." ”
Historically, Mercedes-Benz actually received this money. In 2019, the "Xi'an female car owner" incident has attracted widespread attention, and in the subsequent communication recording, the female owner has repeatedly asked a 4S store executive: "When buying a car, I was unknowingly charged a Mercedes-Benz financial service fee of 15,000 yuan, but there was no service in the whole process." "I unknowingly, fraudulently obtained it, and who collected this money on your behalf?" Where does this money go? What is the pricing standard for 15,000 yuan? "For a time, the unspoken rule of the financial service fee industry was officially exposed to the outside world.
On September 2, 2019, Mercedes-Benz Finance was fined a total of 800,000 yuan by the Beijing Municipal Banking and Insurance Regulatory Bureau for "serious deficiencies in the management of outsourcing activities" and violating Article 46 of the Banking Supervision and Administration Law. In order to eliminate the negative impact of this incident and prevent the recurrence of such incidents, Beijing Mercedes-Benz Sales Service Co., Ltd., Mercedes-Benz Auto Finance Co., Ltd. and authorized dealers have jointly launched the Service Convention, which is the paragraph read aloud in the previous article.
"In fact, whether it is a car company financial company or the main engine factory itself, the documents issued by its dealers will definitely emphasize the 'strict prohibition of financial service fees', but for the implementation of this directive, some companies will turn a blind eye and close one eye." Gao Liang (pseudonym), an executive of a car company financial company, told Autohome.
According to him, car companies are the most reluctant group to let dealers charge financial service fees, because this money is in the hands of dealers, the former can not profit from it, and once there is a controversial negative event, it hurts the brand power and credibility of car companies. "So people like us often do the work of 'fighting fires', we have not received the money, and we have to shovel things. But if you increase the intensity of control, do not let the dealer collect this money, the consequences are also very serious, the car company is not willing to give up profits to the dealer, and then cut off this financial road, the dealer really can not survive, in the end the loss is still their own. ”
In addition to a few traditional luxury brands such as Mercedes-Benz and Hongqi, some new forces are also one of the clear streams that do not charge financial service fees. According to autohome's understanding, whether it is Weilai, Xiaopeng, or ideal, in the process of pre-sale consultation and sale of new cars, it is clearly stated that financial service fees will not be charged in any name.
A store sales of Weilai Automobile and Autohome said that the sales model of traditional 4S stores is: sales first quote a price - users then bargain - sales and then pretend to apply after the price reduction - and when users are ready to pay money, then use financial service fees, warehouse fees, decoration fees and other miscellaneous fees to pull the overall price back. Different users, different negotiation skills, the negotiated car price will be different.
"The direct operation model of our new forces and the dealer model of traditional car companies are already two completely different systems." We are directly operated, although we also have to consider the issue of profitability, but we must be more responsible for the brand image, and we cannot smash our own signboard. ”
Can I receive it? Should I receive it?
Like the Wei brand sales mentioned above, there are not a few dealers who have the idea of "I paid the cost, you should give money". Indeed, if the vehicle loan is provided by the car company finance company, there will often be a financial commissioner stationed in the 4S store, the store must provide the commissioner with a basic salary, provide office space; and the vehicle loan is provided by the bank in real time, and the 4S store also needs to coordinate the borrower and lenders, assist in handling mortgage work, etc., and indeed pay part of the cost.
Is this really legal? As early as 2012, the China Banking Regulatory Commission issued the Notice on Rectifying the Irregular Operation of Banking Financial Institutions, which clearly stipulates: "Financial institutions shall not take advantage of the opportunity of issuing loans or otherwise providing financing to require customers to accept unreasonable intermediary business and other financial services, thereby collecting fees." ”
Obviously, 4S stores are not financial institutions, and the China Banking Regulatory Commission cannot control them. The real bank as a financial institution, or the car company financial service company, it is impossible to charge financial service fees to car buyers, after all, the money is collected by 4S stores. In the face of this problem, many auto dealer staff, as well as auto finance related practitioners, have expressed statements like "this is a gray area, and the law does not explicitly prohibit it".
However, in the view of some legal circles, the entire process of collecting financial service fees from 4S stores will still be suspected of violating the law. The first is the suspected fraud problem, in the process of collecting some financial service fees, 4S stores have changed the normal loan procedures requirements of banks and financial institutions, fictitiously the fact that customers need to pay the so-called "financial service fees" according to the amount of the loan, causing consumers to fall into misunderstanding, thus making acts contrary to their original intentions - paying financial service fees.
The second is suspected of forced bundling consumption and is not open and transparent. In many cases that have been reported by the media before, some consumers have been told that when they buy a car, they can only handle installments, otherwise there is no cash discount; even in some extreme cases, consumers who buy a car in full have been charged "financial service fees".
In this round of understanding, except for BMW and Audi brand 4S stores that clearly tell that the financial service fee is 3%-4% of the total loan amount, the rest of the brands have not informed the clear charging standard, so that the absurdity of "Accord is bigger than personality, so it is necessary to charge 1,000 yuan more".
"A car owner posted a receipt for financial service fees on the Internet, and the summary column reads "Agency fee".
The third is suspected tax evasion. According to QinShan, the 4S store will not issue an invoice for this fee. "Either it is kneaded in the 'decoration' and 'package', or it is to open a receipt for you, which vaguely says 'agency fee', 'agency fee', 'comprehensive service business fee' and so on. When the most rampant, they do not take public accounts and directly transfer to private Alipay. The above situation mentioned by Qin Shan undoubtedly involves tax evasion and evasion.
Even if it is true that as some practitioners say, financial service fees are a gray area, but is this money reasonable?
"There may be some plausibility at first. Earlier banks, financial institutions loan process is more cumbersome, the procedures are relatively troublesome, the store of financial commissioners for this did pay a certain amount of labor, charging a certain consulting fee, service fee is reasonable, after all, consumers do not understand the process of their own to run the loan, to be much more troublesome. But now it is different, the financial approval procedures are becoming more and more simplified, as long as there are 'two certificates and one card (referring to ID cards, driver's licenses, bank cards)', some loans can be approved almost in seconds, and the workload of this intermediate communication and coordination is negligible, and it is not worthy of this money. Highlighted.
Car buyers are also clearly divided into two factions when faced with the problem of financial service fees. The first is the compromise faction. "Collect it, I really don't bother to run the loan myself, and I don't have the money to pay the full amount, so that the other party can make some money." Liu Tong (pseudonym), who just finished mentioning the new car in February, said: "The main thing is that there is no way to pay it, all 4S stores are charged, and I have no choice at all." Besides, even if this money is not paid, the sales will have to be found from other names, and they will sink on the side of their backs and ask for gender. ”
Li Lin (pseudonym) does not agree with this statement. "It's okay to ask me to pay, you have to explain it to me." The so-called 'handling fee', even if there is one, should be handed over to the bank, why should they take care of me in their 4S store? The so-called 'financial service fee', what service does the 4S store provide to me? The loan is approved by banks and financial institutions, and the mortgage is my personal credit, what does it have to do with 4S stores? ”
Some insiders believe that if the contradiction between "dealers' demands for profitability" and "selling cars without making money" cannot be resolved, even if financial service fees are eliminated, there will be other random charging phenomena emerging. Standing behind the chaos of financial service fees is the traditional dealer channel model that has been hit hard and is full of challenges. The whole model needs to be replaced, and the practitioners in the whole model also need to shuffle their cards.